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Postdoc Weiya Xue Joins Potato Program

Posted: January 26, 2016

Dr. Weiya Xue became a postdoctoral scholar in the Penn State Potato Program in January 2016.

Dr. Weiya Xue

Postdoctoral Scholar Weiya Xue joined Dr. Xinshun Qu’s potato program this month. Dr. Xue works on several projects in collaboration with Dr. Kathleen Haynes, United States Dept. of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS).

The ARS Potato Breeding Program has identified a tetraploid potato clone as one of the most late blight resistant clones. Dr. Xue conducts field and laboratory research to understand the genetic basis and identify genes/QTLs of late blight resistance in this clone. Performing genome-wide association studies on approximately 250 common tetraploid potato cultivars, Dr. Xue examines the genetic relationship among agronomic traits, disease resistance, and genetic diversity of potato.

Dr. Xue obtained his Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2008 at Huazhong Agricultural University, China. Prior to joining Dr. Qu’s lab, Dr. Xue worked as a postdoc at Umea Plant Science Center, Sweden, on genetics of cell wall and xylem development in Arabidopsis and as a postdoc in Penn State's Department of Plant Science on epigenetics in maize and sorghum.